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Recipes

Peppermint bark is one of those seasonal confections that looks really impressive and makes a great gift, but is actually really easy to prepare.

I make a batch every year and every year it’s a bit different. For our Holiday Sweater party this weekend, I used a new recipe that layers a chocolate ganache between white chocolate for a softer bite. It feels very festive and who doesn’t like chocolate and peppermint?!

It turned out really well.

Ingredients:

1 package white chocolate chips

1 package semisweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon peppermint extract (I like it really pepperminty, but you could skip this or add less to taste!)

5 tablespoons heavy cream

1 cup crushed candy canes

parchment paper

I crush the candy canes in our food processor because it’s easy, but you can also put them in a ziplock and use a rolling pin!

Melt half of the white chocolate chips in the microwave (on 50% power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring well in between) or on a double boiler. I used a small saucepan in a large saucepan with simmering water.

Once white chocolate is smooth, spread in a thin layer on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I ended up with about a 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle. You want it to be thin and somewhat even.

Sprinkle about 1/4 of your candy canes over the warm chocolate and transfer to the freezer.

Melt all of the semisweet chocolate, the cream, and the peppermint extract in a double boiler. This will make a softer ganache.

Let it cool until it’s just barely luke warm, then spread it over the frozen white chocolate/candy cane layer. The best way to do this is to work quickly so the ganache doesn’t melt the white chocolate. Pour it in ribbons and then spread. This layer will be thicker and softer.

Return to the freezer.

Melt the remaining white chocolate chips and spread over the ganache layer. Again, work quickly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect! It’ll still look and taste great if the chocolates swirl together a bit.

Top with remaining candy canes.

Return the whole thing to the freezer and let it get nice and chilled.

You can use a knife to cut the bark, or just break it into bite-sized pieces for a more rustic look.

I’m all about easy weeknight dinners, and this southern inspired Shrimp & Grits took literally minutes.

Precooked frozen shrimp is one of my favorite food hacks. It requires literally no preparation other than running under cold water for a few minutes. It’s great with cocktail sauce at parties (make your own by mixing ketchup and prepared horseradish), in pasta, on salads, or with grits and okra like we had last night!

For the grits, cook according to package instructions. Stir grits and salt into boiling water and simmer for 5-7 minutes. When it’s almost done, lay a slice of Pepperjack cheese on top and let it melt. Once it’s nice and gooey stir it in. Repeat for each serving of grits you’re preparing.

Finally, the okra. I hate okra. Unless it’s fried of course. Otherwise it’s slimy and gross. But when it’s mixed with cheesy grits, I don’t hate it as much, and my husband LOVES it, so I suffer through it every once in a while. We bought precut frozen okra and microwaved it for 3 minutes with a bit of water. Drain (try not to gag at the slime) and serve with a little salt and pepper.

We decided to buy a 5 lb bag of carrots at Whole Foods (because why not, right?), so get ready for a lot of carrot related food posts.

Starting with these muffins. I knew I wanted to make a form of carrot cake because 1) SO MANY CARROTS and 2) our new food processor can shred like a champion. So I searched for recipes using my usual technique and ended up with this one for Gluten-Free Vegan Carrot Apple Muffins.

Which I promptly massacred into no longer being remotely gluten-free OR vegan by swapping in eggs, milk, flour, honey, and butter. What can I say, I’m a traditionalist.

These muffins turned out awesome though, and I’m sure the gluten-free and vegan version is at least 75% as good.

You can click through to the recipe. Basically, I just used one extra large egg instead of the “flax eggs”, butter instead of olive oil, 2% milk instead of almond milk, regular old all purpose flour instead of the gluten-free flour blend, and honey instead of agave. I also skimped on the brown sugar because our open package was shy of the 1/2 cup required and I didn’t want to open a new one. They are plenty sweet as it is, so I don’t think we missed it! Other ingredients: shredded apple and carrot, mashed banana, rolled oats, almond meal, and cinnamon.

In lieu of traditional cream cheese frosting, we served these for breakfast with Siggi’s yogurt, which is more tart, thicker, and smoother than other yogurts I’ve found. The tart balanced the sweet perfectly. They also have great fall flavors out like Pumpkin Spice and Apple Pie which are amazing with these muffins. Finally, add a handful of raw walnuts and you’re good to go!

Moule-frites is just a fancy French/Belgian way of saying “mussels and french fries”. During an excursion to Whole Foods (we tried out the new one in InkBlock and omg it’s enormous) we discovered some Maine mussels and thought, well why not?

We looked up a recipe for a white wine broth that seemed reasonable and bought a regular old potato for frying.

For the mussels:

Ingredients:

2/3 bottle dry white wine (we used the Three Wishes Pinot Grigio from Whole Foods because it’s about $3)

4-6 tablespoons butter

One onion

4 cloves garlic

Dry and fresh herbs to taste (we used fresh basil and dried cilantro because… well, that’s what we had)

1 pound fresh live mussels

Bring the wine to a simmer with the butter, onion, garlic and herbs. Once bubbling, add the mussels. Cover and steam 5-10 minutes or until they open up. Remember – don’t eat the ones that are difficult to open!

For the fries:

Ingredients:

One large potato

1 cup flour

Paprika

Garlic powder

Salt

1/2 – 1 cup water

1 cup oil for frying

Cut the potato into fries. I chose to leave ours unpeeled for a more rustic look. Put them in a bowl with cold water so they don’t turn brown while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Heat the oil in a large pan. While the oil is heating, stir or sift together the flour, salt, and seasonings. I went pretty heavy with the garlic but just a sprinkle of paprika. It’s really up to you. Gradually add water and stir until the batter is liquid, like pancake batter. When the oil is hot, dip the fries in the batter and add them to the pan one at a time so they don’t touch. Let cook until golden brown and then remove, draining on paper towels.

Serve traditionally with mayonnaise and Stella Artois, or like an American, with ketchup and Sam Adams. Don’t forget a large bowl to collect the shells!

This was a super easy and delicious recipe and way more affordable than ordering moules-frites in a restaurant. It was a great Sunday lunch, but would also make a fun dinner for two or even for having guests over. Have you made moules-frites? So good!

Earlier this week, I was feeling inspired by this recipe from one of our favorite celebrity chefs, Daniel Boulud. Except we had approximately none of the ingredients and it looked far too time consuming for a regular weeknight. So instead, I cooked up what we had on hand to create a dish that Matt has cited as his favorite ever. The highest praise! Just kidding, he says this about everything I cook; it was part of our marriage vows. But this dish is super delicious, pretty healthy, and fast and easy for weeknights. For reference, the sausage I used was from Whole Foods. They generally stock several variations of sausage and we like to pick up a couple links every so often since they’re super versatile.

We also made the same recipe with chicken breasts instead of sausage a few nights later, but added back in the spices from the Boulud tagine and it was equally as delicious.

Part of my inspiration to write about what we miss from NYC was that Matt has been requesting that I make bagels for weeks. Probably because we haven’t found a decent place to get one in Boston. It was his birthday this week and I had the morning off (#labordayweekend!), so I decided to dig out my tried and true bagel recipe and get boiling.

Bagels sound impressive when you tell people you made them yourself, and they take a good amount of time to prepare from start to finish, but it’s so worth it and actually pretty easy.

First, add the sugar and yeast to 1/2 cup of the warm water. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then stir until the yeast and sugar are completely dissolved.

Stir together the flour and salt. Create a well in the middle and pour in the yeast/water/sugar mixture with about half of the remaining water. Mix well, continuing to add more water until you create a firm, wet dough.

Turn the dough out until a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, trying to incorporate as much flour as you can until you’re left with a smooth, firm, elastic ball of dough. Your arms may get tired. It’s fine. I thought about trying to dig out the food processor and using it to knead, but decided just to do it by hand.

Place the dough in a large bowl lightly coated with oil and turn it to coat. Cover with a damp dishtowel and put it some place warm to rise for about an hour. I like to turn the oven on to a low heat setting and place the bowl on top of it. It gets warm but not too warm! After it doubles in size, punch it down and let it sit for another 10 minutes. See? It’s just a lot of waiting.

After the dough has risen, separate it into eighths. Mine don’t always turn out equal, but I don’t mind. You can use a scale if you want a more uniform bagel. I like them a bit rustic. Once you have your dough separated, start shaping them into balls. Then, use your finger to create a hole in the middle of the ball create the classic bagel shape. This sounds a lot easier than it is. I can never really get the dough smooth or even, but like I said, it’s rustic. They don’t have to look great, just taste great!

Once they’re shaped, let your bagels rest again for about 10 minutes, covered with a damp towel again. Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil.

Reshape and stretch your bagels as needed and boil them for 2 minutes on each side (less if you want a less chewy bagel). They should float on top of the water and you can boil as many as you feel comfortable with in the pot at once.

Once boiled, you can top your bagels if you want! Plain ones are great. Mix the egg white with a bit of water and brush onto bagels before sprinkling with whatever you want/have. We used black sesame seeds and fleur de sel this time, leaving a few just plain.

Transfer your topped bagels to a lightly oiled baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown!

Enjoy with cream cheese, scallions, smoked salmon, or plain! These bagels are seriously so good. Chewy on the outside, soft inside, crispy bottoms.